Make Tea, Not War!

 Back again. Thank you for all your lovely comments and for following me. I appreciate each and every one of you - and I love reading your comments so please do carry on commenting!!

I hadn't walked with the Ramblers for a few weeks and Wednesday was no different. The Ramblers walk was in Stevenage; quite far from Bedford so I decided to go out and recce a new walk. Now, when I say a new walk, I don't mean I go to a different area and work a walk out (one day I will do this) but I use the same four main areas close to the villages of Clapham; Milton Ernest, Ravensden and Thurleigh; all near to where I live. I have a repertoire of walks in these areas and I continue to develop more. On Wednesday, after I set off walking 8.5 miles later I had a new walk. Unfortunately, it was too long and will have to be shortened. I will look on the OS map (Ordnance Survey) for the area and see if there are any other footpath/bridle paths that I could take as alternatives and reduce the mileage. It will be a work in progress but I feel confident I can reduce it to about 7.5 miles ready for February when I next lead a Wednesday group walk.

It was another very cold day on Wednesday but wonderful walking weather. The wind was chilly but most importantly the sun was shining. There had been an overnight frost and many puddles still had a coat of ice. Where I walked on the hard paths in places it was quite slippery. I saw a sparrowhawk sitting in a tree completely denuded of leaves. Every time I've spotted a sparrowhawk it's been in a tree bare of leaves. I'm sure they're there when the trees have leaves but are probably camouflaged. I really enjoyed my walk but my legs; especially my thighs were aching by the time I'd finished!

I wore this outfit and just added my walking boots and socks. Everything pre-loved except the metallic boots from Tu a recent purchase; and the leggings; a sale buy from Store 21 ages ago.  Pinafore dress by New Look; unlabelled polo neck from my Barnardo's. I wore my Weekenders blue cardigan over this outfit for extra warmth in the house. All jewellery pre-loved.

It was such a bright sunny day and there was still some autumnal colour around.

If you look carefully at these two photos you will see Alpacas and Shetland ponies. I was walking by this hedgerow when I heard someone shouting;  when I stopped and peered through it (I'm very nosy) a woman was calling and rattling a container which made the alpacas and ponies run towards her; it must have been food!

This wonderful cow sculpture made of metal chains stands on the lawn of some barns I passed on the walk; which are holiday lets. It wasn't here when I walked past earlier this year so I surmise it's a recent addition. I can't imagine people coming on holiday to Bedfordshire but I guess they do...

After my walk and a cup of tea and brief sit down at home; I walked into town to get my eyebrows tinted and waxed. Then I had a trip to Aldi for some things I needed. When I went to collect the grandson from work at 10 pm that evening it was minus 2 degrees and I had to scrape ice off the windscreen...

There weren't many people in the pool on Thursday morning - just the usual die-hards like me! I swam 45 laps then had a lovely warm shower. After my breakfast I got ready; digging out this 1.00 rail bargain dress I found at the Barnardo's in Ampthill. I keep meaning to donate it as I can't make my mind up about it; but it got a reprieve this time. I wish it had pockets. M&S polo neck underneath and some Nike red camouflage leggings for much needed warmth on yet another very cold day. All pre-loved including the red boots and jewellery; except for the earrings which were a Primark find on my way home from having my eyebrows done yesterday. I also bought a couple of new lipsticks there for the princely sum of 95 pence each. I have several other lipsticks from Primark and they're very good and last... 

I went to Sharnbrook for kindling and to Lidl and Sainsbury's to finish the weekly food shop. Home to unpack it all, clean out and re-lay the fire and to make dinner. OH was going to pick middle grandson up on Thursday evening from work and he'd be taking his dinner home with him. I took youngest grandson to basketball practice and then chilled out for the rest of the evening; catching up with blogs and blogging and finishing the first book from my TBR pile 'Hancox: A House and a Family' by Charlotte Moore. Fascinating.

There were only 5 of us on the unofficial bus walk on Friday. We met at the band stand  in Bedford Park and walked along to Foster Hill Cemetery which is a beautiful and very typical Victorian cemetery. This is the entrance to it complete with 2 blue plaques; another 2 to add to my collection!

The cemetery was opened in 1855 and you can read more about it HERE. The paths were frosty and in fact the frost didn't thaw much all day. Cold but bright and sunny.

This is the chapel. Originally it was 2 chapels; one for the Church of England burials and one for Dissenters.

Sorbus Rosea - spotted in someone's garden and much admired by us all.

From the cemetery we proceeded to walk to Clapham Golf course where we stopped for soup and a roll. I had a cup of tea and ate my breakfast; the time restricted eating continues. We carried on from there walking a six mile circular walk; part of a route I walk often, but much more enjoyable walking with friends. We stopped in the cafe in Bedford Park when we'd finished. By the time I walked home I'd walked a total of 6.6 miles. We'd walked through a couple of very muddy patches and both my boots and jeans were so filthy they needed to be cleaned/changed when I got in.

 I then went to my daughters where she wanted to experiment with making a range of vegan flapjacks. She hoped to sell them to the vegan cafe in town where she cooks two days a week; when she's not teaching at school. My role was to be taster (!) and I helped by washing up. One variety of flap jack was chocolate covered but had not cooled enough by the time I left so I'd get to sample that one on Saturday.

There was a Rambler's  London walk to see the Christmas lights in the West End on Saturday, but neither OH or I could go as cousin Marian's grandson; Cassius, was being christened. OH and I set off quite early on Saturday morning in thick fog all down the motorway to London. We left in a hurry. I usually wake up naturally between 7 am and 7.30 am but I set the alarm on Friday evening and would you believe it; it didn't go off! I woke up at 08.19 and we had to leave home by 9.30 am to be at the church in time...we made it, just.

Cassius Alexander cried all the way through the christening service but was happy and smiling afterwards at the reception. Here he is with his mum and Dad. His Dad is Marian's youngest son and this is her third grandchild.

And here's himself. I wished I'd thought to ask him to take a photo of me. I wore a black velvet jumpsuit pre-loved with my mum's see through chiffon and white ribbon bedecked shirt over it. It's the only item of clothing of my mum's that I kept (there were over 20 black sacks of clothes to dispose of when she died in 2009; she loved charity shops, too)  and I wear it on special occasions sometimes. I also wore my fur coat as it was a bitterly cold day at -1 degree all day. It was lovely to see Marian's family again and we enjoyed the tasty buffet. We made it home as darkness fell; the fog stayed with us all the way.

I also overslept on Sunday morning and woke up too late to go swimming. It was the usual Sunday; house cleaning and cooking dinner. Last week legs of lamb were reduced to half price at Sainsbury's (with a Nectar Reward card). I'd bought one and kept it in the freezer so we had roast lamb with all the trimmings for dinner. Both grandson's favourite Sunday dinner but a leg of lamb would usually cost about £25.00; therefore we don't have it very often! In the evening we began watching the second series of 'Hidden Assets;' an Irish/Belgian made crime series set in Dublin and Antwerp.

Back to Great Denham Barnardo's on Monday. Both Sunday and Monday were warmer than last week; at 6 degrees and 8 degrees respectively, but the heating in the shop wasn't working properly and it was very chilly. My hands didn't warm up all morning. I had to resort to wearing one of the shop stock cardigans from the men's section; I liked it so much I bought it and a black and white patterned polo neck by H&M.

We were quite busy and I processed donations and worked the till. Once I was finished I popped over to the Barnardo's in Kempston as I wanted to buy middle grandson some very thick, warm socks which are part of Barnardo's new goods stock. We didn't have any at Great Denham. Grandson has to wear safety boots and of course the warehouse is cold so the socks will help cushion the effect of the boots and keep his feet warm.

This the Primarni dress I found at Barnardo's about a month ago and I wore it over these navy retail leggings and retail boots; present from my daughter last year. All jewellery pre-loved.

I made soup with the lamb leftovers when I got in and put on a whites wash. On Sunday we did 3 lots of clothes washes as we weren't at home on Saturday to do it. It's hard to dry clothes in this weather without using the tumble drier. We make use of the radiators when they're on and the clothes airer. The heated airer is useful for underwear and small items but on the whole it was not a good buy. I caught up with blogs and blogging and a started a new book; the third from my TBR pile.

Woke up to a wet and gloomy day on Tuesday. The food bank was chilly but I soon warmed up unpacking stacks of crates of non grocery items and running between 3 rooms to put them away.

I bought this dress some months back in a charity shop somewhere when they sell off the summer items to make room for warmer clothing. I can't remember where or how much I paid for it but I know it was only a few pounds. The dress is by F&F; worn with pre-loved M&S leggings underneath, a pre-loved H&M tank top and pre-loved black patent boots. One of the jobs I did on Sunday morning was to polish all my polishable boots. I use furniture polish on the patent ones; shoe polish on my leather boots and the suede brush on the suede ones.

All jewellery pre-loved.

The swimming pool was closed on Thursday morning for maintenance work so I'd booked a swim for 12.30 on Tuesday afternoon instead. There weren't many people at the pool and I had the slow lane all to my self for the last 15 minutes.  I quite like swimming on Tuesday afternoon and if I swapped to a Tuesday it would make my Thursdays less busy and I could go shopping in the morning. I think I'll try it again next Tuesday and see how that works. It would mean however I'd have to leave the food bank promptly every week...

Thought I'd show you my recent retail boots buys:

Not a very good photo of these; they're navy leather with bronze splodges.

These are the second newest retail pair; animal fabric print in bronze.

From the pool I went home to hang up some washing and then went into town to run some errands going to the chemist to pick up my repeat prescription; to Savers and to buy myself some navy boots (above) I'd spotted when I was having my eyebrows done last week. One new pair of boots in and one old pair of boots into the donations bag. I could have asked for the boots as a Christmas present but it was easier to buy them myself! Then back home to sort out the fire and make dinner. I didn't have to pick grandson up in the evening - it was his day off.

I think this might be a badger paw print. I know there are several badger setts in my walking areas. I spotted this whilst out walking on Wednesday morning. It just like last Wednesday; cold but bright and sunny with iced over puddles and frost on the ground. This print and many others were along a bridle way but farm machinery had come along and obliterated the left hand side paw prints. The ridges left by the vehicle had frozen over. I went to recce the walk I hope to lead in February and I'm very proud of myself. Without even consulting the map I was able to cut the walk down to 7.5 miles, just by taking a couple of different footpaths. I don't think the shorter walk is as good as longer walk of last week but you can't have everything! No outfit post as I stayed in walking gear for most of the day. I popped along to the Castle Road charity shops on the way back from walking as I hadn't been for a while. I found an M&S sweater dress; a tunic top and a pair of velvet Cos trousers which I plan to wear on Christmas Day. I made OH a sausage casserole for dinner and we finished watching Shetland on BBC 1.

It was strange not go swimming on Thursday morning but I did relish not having to rush around. I had finished the weekly food shopping soon after 1 pm and took grandson to work - OH collected him in the evening. Then I hung up another wash and spent the afternoon reading my book until it was time to cook dinner, sort out the fire and take youngest grandson to basketball training.

This was the M&S sweater dress I found in The Children's Society yesterday for 5.00. It was very warm and cosy to wear and has pockets. I wore a black and white checked long cardigan over it but that photo didn't come out. The thick tights have a checked pattern but it's hard to see in the photos; they were also pre-loved. Boots; retail from New Look and all jewellery pre-loved. Talking of boots, I gave the brand new Doc Martens boots I found at the charity shop in Rushden a few weeks back to my daughter who was thrilled with them. She won't have to break them in as I would have done as they were her size.

Friday was a lovely, bright sunny and not too cold a day at 10 degrees; perfect for the unofficial bus walk. 7 of us started the walk from Ampthill Park which is based in Ampthill; a small town about 6 miles outside of Bedford. We walked to the village of Maulden and back into Ampthill town where we stopped at the cafe in the square for coffee and cake; then I went for a wander around Ampthill's four charity shops. I got lucky and found a Sisley cross body bag in black for 3.00 and an East top for 2.00 in the Willen Hospice shop. In Barnardo's, I found this:

It looked like a children's toy but in fact it was tea advent calendar with 24 different teas to try - one behind each of the windows from T2com. At 2.50 I thought it was worth a try. My project is to try a different tea every day and give you my feedback. The things I do for blogging! This advent calendar hailed from Australia and retailed at 25 Australian dollars according to T2com. website. How they ended up in Barnardo's in Ampthill I have no idea; they had at least half a dozen for sale. Each of the windows has a teabag behind it and a suggestion for something to do...

I'd walked 6.6 miles by the time I got back to my car. Once I was home I sorted out the fire and made myself something for dinner. I tried cooking beetroot in the air fryer with sweet potato; the beetroot took 25 minutes and I ate it with the sweet potato and some smoked salmon. Very nice it was, too. I usually boil beetroot and it takes hours. I should try roasting it next time it would make a nice addition to a Sunday roast dinner.

Spotted  in Ampthill.

These houses always look as if the windows have eyebrows, I think.

The trees behind the houses are part of Ampthill Park. Once  a royal lodge and the hunting grounds of King Henry VIIIth; also home to Ampthill Castle where Katherine of Aragon was held pending the annulment of the divorce from the king.

I loved the lettering on this house name spotted in Ampthill.

I wore the navy pre-loved polo neck and tunic top to walk in and just changed into these dark red trousers and my metallic boots when I got home. My walking trousers were covered in mud.

What a wet and miserable day Saturday was. I was going to go for a walk but it was either raining or threatening to rain so I didn't bother. OH and I went to Pells and bought our Christmas tree. I picked up some holly whilst I was there; it's far too prickly and hard to handle to forage for. We have ivy in the garden and lots grows in the clinic a few doors down so I shall be picking some and will put both holly and ivy on the mantel piece. OH couldn't find the bucket full of large pebbles we stand the Christmas tree in and ended up clearing out the alleyway which was something that needed doing. I am hoping to catch the scrap metal man on Tuesday when I next go swimming and see if he'd be interested in the scrap metal we have in the alleyway. Otherwise it means a trip to the tip or 'waste recycling centre' to give it its official title.

I dressed practically for hunking Christmas trees about. Everything pre-loved. Jeans by Next; polo neck by John Lewis and tank top by TU bought BNWT in a King's Lynn charity shop. Boots by Tu also pre-loved as was all jewellery.

After 3 days in a row of wearing neutral colours I decided to wear more colour next week...

Tea Tasting Day 1

Saturday's tea was a fruit tea; 'Packs A Peach' containing peach, papaya, apple and roasted chicory. It was very flavoursome but after the 3-5 minutes suggested infusion; it wasn't as hot as I like my tea to be.  I expect that will be the case with all the teas. The suggested to do thing was 'have a cuppa' - I did! 7/10.

Tea Tasting Day 2

Sunday's tea was 'Lemongrass and Ginger'. The flavour was very subtle almost insipid. I thought I would like it more as I drink lemon and ginger tea regularly.  The suggestion of the day was 'be a volunteer. I am! 5/10.

Sunday was also wet and miserable; I just re-wore Saturdays jeans with a tunic on top. I went for a swim in the morning; did the housework and cooked dinner. Took youngest grandson home after dinner and picked middle grandson up from work  in the evening. He has 2 days off now so that'll give me a break...

A more colourful outfit for Barnardo's on Monday. Everything pre-loved; skirt by Dorothy Perkins; jacket by Susst; jumper by M&Co and boots recent retail buy from local shoe shop.

All jewellery and belt pre-loved.

This is the Sisley bag I found on Friday at the Willen Hospice shop.

We weren't terribly busy at Barnardo's and I worked with the manager who had recently recovered from bout of shingles. Once I was home I made soup with the chicken leftovers; sorted out the fire and ironed my outfit ready for the evening. We went to see Julian and 'Steeleye Span' who have been touring since early November; see HERE. On Monday they were at the Stables in Milton Keynes where we met up with Mandy and Paul. We had a great night and went back stage briefly after the show. Everyone had work the next day except me. We took some photos outside the venue but because I forgot to use the flash on the camera they didn't come out very well.

I wore this previously unworn but pre-loved dress with no label;  pre-loved red pleather jacket; pre-loved boots. I didn't wear the belt in the end.

Do you like my cherry earrings? Bought from Etsy when they were half price.

Tea Tasting Day 3

'Morning Sunshine' - a mix of Darjeeling, Assam and Rwandan estate black tea. As I like black tea this tasted good; I had it with milk but tasted it without milk to start. The day's suggestion was 'have a lie-in'. I will on Saturday. 8/10.

This was the outfit I wore to the food bank on Tuesday morning. I spent the morning re-stocking the kettle pack room and making up 13 kettle packs. Next week I'll be filling in for Lynne so I'll be making up food parcels.

Navy/bronze boots retail. Tights from Snag. Pre-loved dress by Store 21.

All jewellery pre-loved.

I went swimming in the afternoon and once again it wasn't terribly busy. I'm going to stick with Tuesday afternoon swimming instead of Thursday morning. Next week, however, I'm at the hairdressers on Tuesday so will swim on Thursday instead. I should have decorated the Christmas tree when I got home but postponed doing that until Saturday; it's not a job I enjoy but I don't like the way anyone else decorates it either! I caught up with blogs and blogging and tried to finish the last of the books on my TBR pile. I'm looking forward to sorting out a new pile which I'll show in my next post.

Tea Tasting - Day 4

Today's tea was 'China Jasmine' - a blend of green tea and jasmine. Not my cup of tea at all!  4/5. The day's suggestion was 'Read a novel'. I'm trying....

**The blog post title is a quote from Monty Python. I thought it rather apt given the times we're living in. See you in a fortnight!